The band with no name

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This week at Casey: 25 January 2013

A Casey summer musical enterprise

What do a diesel mechanic, two scientists, an engineer, two meteorologists, a super slushy (“or domestic goddess”) and a boiler maker have in common? The answer, apart from spending a summer at Casey station this season, is music. After a slow start, a regular band of musos has formed. This as yet nameless Casey band consists of Andy (drums), Matt (vocals and guitar), Zbynek (guitar), Bec (piano, vocals), Leon (clarinet, harmonica, bass), Marie, Vicky and Bec (all vocals), with some time appearances by chippy Cam (guitar), meteorological observer Michael (vocals), Louise Carroll (meteorological forecaster) and departed 2012 winterer's Jamie and Dan. This motley gang of winterer's and summerer's also has something of an international flavour with members from the Czech Republic, Canada and the UK. The repertoire is as diverse as the band members, from classical to country, and from rock ballads to jazz, with songs by John Denver, Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkle, Gershwin, Oasis, Bryan Adams, Leonard Cohen, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Paul Kelly among those rehearsed and performed thus far.

Gigs to date? Well, after a pretty roug'n'ready debut at the hillbilly carnival night when the name “Moonshine” was temporarily adopted, the band has subsequently lead Christmas eve carols and performed a mellow set of songs on the same night. If you’re reading this on the mainland, you may already have heard a little of the band in its early days, as it featured on ABC radio on a couple of occasions around Christmas. The band will perform its largest sets on an upcoming music trivia night inspired by Australian TV programs Rock Wiz and Spicks n Specks, with talk also of a local musical contribution to Australia Day activities.

Generally meeting to have a jam session twice a week, the band lets loose in the mezzanine of the emergency vehicle shelter, surrounded by wigs, hats, masks and random theme night paraphernalia, as the emergency vehicle shelter (EVS) also houses an eclectic collection of both sports equipment and costumes! Such surrounds can make for interesting distractions during rehearsals, which are already pretty chaotic, banter-filled and yet somehow also usually quite productive. If only Matt would stop requesting the same John Denver song, over and over!

We’re all having a great time enjoying each other’s diverse musical tastes and talents and looking for opportunities to play together. The only sad thing is that it will come to an end so quickly as summer band members soon depart, with so many songs yet to be played and performed. But, who knows? Maybe a reunion is on the cards next season! Maybe by then we’ll have come up with a band name.